Stage West in Scranton will host one last kinky Noir Nights event before closing on Jan. 1
Stage West has announced its final event, and it’s as unconventional as the three-year life of the West Scranton music venue.
The corner bar will turn the lights down low to host one more sexy Noir Nights event on Saturday, Jan. 1 before the lights go off for good.
Created by The Strange and Unusual owner and former Motionless In White member Josh Balz, this kinky and mysterious pop-up bar series held its last event, “The Death of 2019” masquerade party, on New Year’s Eve of that year before Balz and Stage West owner Steve Masterson eventually expanded the concept into its own bar, Noir Dark Spirits, in downtown Scranton earlier this year.
Fashion company Blackcraft will present this seductive evening with a very fitting theme from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
“Noir Nights returns with an ‘Evening of Death’ to signify the rebirth of a new cycle. Ceremonies will be brought to you by Josh Balz and Blackcraft owner Bobby Schubenski. The theme for this tragic affair will be ‘Death.’ Tickets will be very limited, don’t wait,” the event description reads.
“The dark and sinful corners of the human psyche will be on full display as Noir Nights transforms the venue into a den of artistic hedonism. Attendees will be treated to an evening of heightened senses that will feature themed drink specials, music, and a ritualistic gathering of provocative subculture. Organizers invite attendees to dive into the world of the occult and enjoy an evening of sensory overload.”
Everyone is required to dress in black, and no outside photography is permitted at this exclusive 21+ event. Further details are slim, but past Noir Nights at Stage West (301 N. Main Ave., Scranton) have featured DJ sets by Balz, Joe Letz of industrial band Combichrist, and TJ Bell of Escape the Fate.
Tickets, which are $25 in advance, are on sale now via Prekindle.
After spending years collecting weird and creepy things as he toured the world as the keyboardist of Scranton metal band Motionless In White, Balz founded The Strange and Unusual Oddities Parlor in Kingston in 2013 using pieces from his own collection before expanding into a bigger building and opening a second location in Philadelphia in 2015.
Balz played on the band’s first three albums on Fearless Records and their 2017 Roadrunner Records debut, “Graveyard Shift,” before leaving the group in early 2017. His continued to create music with his solo project, Strange Kids, while organizing unique events like Noir Nights at Stage West.
From masquerade parties to a dark circus, these exclusive gatherings require attendees to dress all in black and leave their cameras and inhibitions at the door. The first was held on Halloween in 2018, and he continued to sell out each event on Black Friday, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, Devil’s Night, and New Year’s Eve.
The 32-year-old entrepreneur turned those popular parties into a gothic bar and restaurant,Noir Dark Spirits, that opened in early 2021. He also transformed Camelback Mountain Resort in Tannersville into a haunted attraction, started a new Bazaar of the Bizarre event at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, and teamed up with three other local entrepreneurs to launch a craft soda brand called Parlor Beverages – four-packs of root beer, butterscotch root beer, and birch beer are now available in stores and online.
Meanwhile, his Noir business partner Steve Masterson has been on his own entrepreneurial journey. In October of 2018, just a few months after The Vault Tap & Kitchen closed after four years in business, he reopened the former bank building as Stage West.
The historic structure on North Main Avenue was reworked into a small, 200-capacity music venue that hosted hundreds of national touring acts as well as many local artists of all genres. From sold-out concerts to quiet nights, Stage West had its ups and downs but remained successful enough that Masterson opened a second Stage West location in State College.
On Dec. 8, he took to social media to announce the sale of the original Scranton location, citing difficulties following the pandemic that shut the place down for nearly two of its three years in business. Stage West in State College, however, will remain open:
It is with mixed emotions that I announce the sale and closing of the Stage West Scranton location in the coming weeks. It has been an amazing 8 years and an honor and privilege of serving my hometown Scranton community.
Throughout this time, I have met SO many countless amazing souls, from coworkers, artists, agents, managers, and staff that have become true lifelong friends. Stage West (and formerly The Vault) was the platform that allowed me to pursue my passion and career in the music industry and has given me opportunities and experiences I could’ve never dreamed of.
I felt that following the last two difficult years of the pandemic that the business had run its course and it was time to move on. I was given an excellent opportunity that I had to seize. The Stage West brand will carry on at our State College location, as well as some other new exciting projects in the works here locally and regionally…
I do not know the future building owners or what they have planned with the venue, but I do hope it will be something great and positive for the community. As for us, we will be winding down the business over the next few weeks of the holiday season, with some final remaining events and announcements on the calendar, so please stop in and say hi, we’d love to see you! And from the bottom of my heart, a sincere THANK YOU to everyone who has made the past 8 years so incredible! You are so loved and appreciated ❤️
Following Parade Day on March 14, 2020, Stage West was among many of the small businesses forced to close due to COVID-19. In the downtime, it managed to stay in business by offering an expanded menu of takeout food, a beer home delivery service, and by opening a cold-pressed juicery in the building called Press’d.
During the quarantine, it hosted Facebook Live trivia streams and teamed up with Scranton pop rock band Nowhere Slow, Ionic Development, and NEPA Scene to present a live streaming socially distanced concert. Each member of the band was spaced over 6 feet apart from each other across the entire empty venue as they played a 90-minute set of rock hits and interacted with Facebook commenters watching the stream from home.
When Lackawanna County entered the yellow phase of reopening on June 5, 2020, Stage West partially opened to the public for outdoor dining on its deck in mid-June, offering a weekly “Wings & Strings” series featuring wing specials and unplugged musicians. It celebrated the green phase of reopening soon after with its first indoor show with Nowhere Slow on June 27, but as national acts continued to cancel or postpone tours, Stage West, Masterson, and his booking company DamnMillennial Promotions shifted their focus to drive-in concerts, presenting events at the Circle Drive-In Theatre in Dickson City and the parking lot of Montage Mountain in Scranton for the rest of the summer and into the fall, making national news for their innovative shows that kept music alive during those difficult months.
Scranton alt rock trio The Boastfuls reopened Stage West on Nov. 14, but limited-time mitigation orders from Governor Tom Wolf that closed bars and restaurants through the holidays forced the venue to cancel a Black Friday event with Philadelphia DJ Shizz Lo and other events set to close out the year. With social distancing requirements, capacity restricted to only 50 percent, and a curfew that prevented serving alcohol after 11 p.m., there was very little that they could do.
In 2021, live music didn’t return to Stage West until April with Black Tie Stereo and A Proud Monkey, and from there, the doors were only open sporadically, often remaining closed for weeks at a time. The last major event it hosted was the Electric City Music Conference last month, serving as one of seven venues with special performances, a short film screening, and educational panels. This was followed by two last nights of music – an EDM show featuring Bear Grillz, Flipswitch, and Wusta on Dec. 9 and a local rock concert with James Barrett, University Drive, and Room 108 on Dec. 10.
There is no word yet on if these will truly be the final shows at Stage West, but much of the local music scene and its fans will remember the venue and its impact for years to come.
Photo by Tom Bonomo/Eyedesignstudios Photography
